The present invention relates to aircrafts having engines mounted above the wings, the air intakes being disposed ahead of the leading edge of the respective wing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,983 describes an aircraft in which the engines are mounted on pylons which extend above as well as in forward direction from the wings. Alternatively, the engines are directly mounted on top of the wings. In the former case, the engine produces a jet which remains above the wing and flows at some distance therefrom while, in the latter case, the emerging jet is tangent to the wing.
Mounting the engines on top of the wings has certain advantages in general, but it was found that the air flow around the pylons and/or along the engines interferes with the flow across the wings and, therefore, produces additional drag. Also, the mere fact of mounting such pylons reduces the surface area of the wings participating in the production of lift.
The German printed patent application No. 1,803,132 discloses an aircraft having several wings arranged one behind the other and carrying engines on their respective ends. The purpose of this arrangement is to produce jets which flow along both sides of the respective wing being disposed behind the engine producing such a jet. This arrangement, however, has the drawback that the hot jet exposes the wing to considerable thermal load. The interference mentioned above is also present as to each wing carrying an engine.